A golf hole has half a dozen named features, each with its own playing strategy and its own set of rules. This page is the master index of every part-of-the-course term defined on Golfing Fore All — from the tee box where you start, to the fairway you’re aiming for, to the rough and bunkers that punish wayward shots, to the green where the hole is won or lost.
If you’re playing a course for the first time, watching a tournament on a layout you don’t know, or trying to understand why a links course plays so differently from a parkland one, this is your reference. Every entry below links to a plain-English definition reviewed by a PGA-credentialed editor.
The Essentials
- Tee Box — where every hole begins; modern terminology calls it the teeing area
- Fairway — the closely-mown corridor you are aiming for off the tee
- Rough — the longer grass framing the fairway, designed to penalise wayward shots
- Bunker — a sand-filled hazard; you cannot ground your club before the stroke
- Penalty Area — post-2019 term for water hazards and other unplayable ground
- Fringe — the short grass collar around the green; not on the green, not the rough
- Out of Bounds — off the course entirely, marked by white stakes; stroke and distance penalty
- Dogleg — a hole that bends left or right between tee and green
- Links — the oldest style of course — coastal, treeless, firm and windswept
How These Terms Relate
Every hole flows from tee box to green, and the named features between them all serve a strategic purpose. The tee box (officially the teeing area in modern rules) is the rectangular zone where you tee up. The fairway is the closely-mown corridor running from tee to green — landing your tee shot here gives you a clean lie and the best angle into the green. On either side of the fairway lies the rough — longer grass cut to penalise wayward shots by limiting how much spin and control you can put on the next shot.
Beyond the rough sit the hazards. Bunkers (sand-filled depressions) and penalty areas (water and other unplayable ground, marked by red or yellow stakes) punish even bigger misses. Out of bounds — marked by white stakes — is the harshest of all: a stroke-and-distance penalty that effectively costs you two shots and forces you to replay from the original spot. The 2019 Rules of Golf consolidated the old categories of water hazard and lateral water hazard into a single penalty area concept, with red stakes indicating lateral relief and yellow stakes indicating straight-back relief.
Around the green, three short-grass zones sit between rough and putting surface: the fringe (the immediate collar), the apron (the broader run-up area on the approach side), and the collar (synonym for fringe, used regionally). The green itself is the carefully-tended putting surface, and the flag stick marks the cup. A dogleg is a hole that bends mid-fairway; doglegs come in left and right and reward a player who shapes their tee shot toward the inside of the bend. The architectural style of the course also matters. Links courses are built on coastal sand dunes, are treeless, and play firm and windswept. Parkland courses are inland, tree-lined, and softer. Heathland, desert, mountain, and resort layouts each have their own character — and their own grass types, hazards, and weather considerations.
The Complete Index
Every term in this cluster, alphabetised, each linked to its full plain-English definition.
- Apron
- Bunker
- Cart Path
- Championship Course
- Clubhouse
- Collar
- Crosswind
- Cup
- Desert Course
- Dogleg
- Dogleg Left
- Dogleg Right
- Double Dogleg
- Driving Range
- Executive Course
- Fairway
- Fringe
- Hazard
- Heathland Course
- Lateral Hazard
- Links
- Links Course
- Municipal Course
- Par-3 Course
- Parkland Course
- Penalty Area
- Pete Dye Design
- Pot Bunker
- Practice Green
- Pro Shop
- Resort Course
- Rough
- Sand Trap
- Signature Hole
- Starter
Common Questions
What is the difference between a bunker and a penalty area?
Before 2019, the Rules of Golf called both sand-filled depressions and water hazards by the term hazard. Today, the rules use two separate categories. A bunker is a sand-filled depression where you may not ground your club before the stroke. A penalty area covers water hazards and other unplayable ground, marked by red or yellow stakes; you may ground your club, take a penalty drop, or play it as it lies. The relief options differ for each, and players sometimes still casually use the old word hazard to refer to both.
What do the different colored stakes mean?
White stakes mark out of bounds — a stroke-and-distance penalty that requires you to replay from where you hit the previous shot. Yellow stakes mark a penalty area where your only drop option is on the line where the ball last crossed the margin, no closer to the hole. Red stakes mark a lateral penalty area where you also get the option to drop within two club-lengths of where the ball last crossed the line. Blue stakes (rare) typically mark ground under repair and entitle you to free relief.
What is the difference between a links course and a parkland course?
A links course is built on coastal sandy ground, treeless, exposed to wind, with firm fast-running turf, pot bunkers, and an emphasis on running the ball along the ground. Most of the famous British Open venues — St Andrews, Royal Birkdale, Carnoustie — are links. A parkland course is inland, tree-lined, with softer turf and an emphasis on flying the ball through the air. Most American courses including Augusta National are parkland. The two styles reward almost opposite skills: imagination and ball flight control on links, precise carry distance and spin on parkland.
What is the fringe, apron, and collar of a green?
All three terms describe short grass around the green — cut shorter than the rough but longer than the green itself. Fringe is the most universal term and refers to the immediate collar of grass surrounding the putting surface. Apron typically describes the broader run-up area on the approach side of the green, often slightly longer than the fringe. Collar is a regional synonym for fringe. Some courses mow all three to the same length and use the terms interchangeably; others maintain distinct heights.
What is a dogleg, and how should I play one?
A dogleg is a hole that bends mid-fairway, either left or right. The standard amateur mistake on a dogleg is to try to cut the corner with a tee shot that requires either a perfect draw (on a dogleg left) or a perfect fade (on a dogleg right). The better play is usually to position your tee shot in the fairway at the corner, even if that means a longer second shot. The approach into the green is what determines whether you make par or not, and a clean fairway lie is worth more than 20 yards of distance from the rough.
What is the difference between rough and fringe?
Rough is the longer grass framing the fairway and surrounding the green at greater distance — typically cut to 1.5 to 4 inches depending on the course and time of year. Fringe is the short collar of grass between the green and the rough, usually cut to about half an inch, intended to be playable with a putter, chip, or pitch. Hitting from the rough is much harder; hitting from the fringe is roughly the same as putting from just off the green.
Related Clusters
- Rules of Golf — relief options for the various course features and hazards
- Shot Types — how to play out of bunkers, rough, and around the green
- Putting and Greens — the green itself, the grass types, and how to read it
About This Page
This cluster index is maintained by the Golfing Fore All editorial team and reviewed by a PGA-credentialed editor. If you spot something wrong, our corrections policy explains what happens next.